it's been longtemps

so. hello. it's been a while. i'm going to try to remember what's happened since march 6 - this might prove difficult, given that i tend not to be able to remember what happened this morning.

march 16 day 1 of my 12-day work week that included 45 or so hours of overtime in the first 7 days and a lot of take-out.

april 12 easter with the family.

july 2 the day my niece was born 6 weeks early; july 4 the day i drove out to take care of the other 2 kiddos while my sis and bro-in-law stayed at a hotel near the hospital whose NICU my new little cutie was medevaced to.

july 11 the day i got to hold my new little niece for the first time. and the day i headed home and ended my first try at mommie-hood. (big shout out of kudos to all you moms out there - wow)

august 6 the day i flew to my 10-yr highschool reunion in gatlinburg, tennessee. i'm kinda regretting that i didn't go to dollywood... today also gets me on the first of 5 flights of which only 1 left on time.

september 7 the day i dropped and broke my camera on the ferry between saltery bay and earls cove while on my 2400km roadtrip with some bestest pals.

september 13 the day i performed my glorious face plant and chest skid across the grass when racing a 9-yr-old. i think he's 9.

september 20 the day we went horseback riding in the driving rain and earned a resulting set of numb feet and hands. but at least we got to see a moose at the end.

october 3 the day of my grandma's 80th unbirthday party and a roadtrip through the mountains in a suburban with the little boy who had to pee and the little girl who had to rhyme.

october 11 thanksgiving with mom, dad, sis and kids and being forced into the hot tub with the kids ("why are you sad auntie dani?" "cuz i'm going in the hot tub" "c'mon. it will be okay.").

november 1 the day of the return of my camera accessories from their trip to fiji and their reunion with my finally-fixed camera. yay!

ta da, here i am. well. this is my niece. but i'm back too. maybe.